Alternative sources of energy are increasingly necessary due anticipated shortage of conventionally sourced energy. Fuel cells are characterized as clean energy, and are therefore attractive options in several fields. The performance of fuel cells depends on their electrocatalysts. In other words, high-performance electrocatalysts will be critical to enhancing the fuel cell's performance. The electrolytes in the conventional fuel cells can be classified as acid, neutral, and alkaline. Because most metal material will be corroded in an acid or alkaline electrolyte, a noble metal having better anti-corrosive properties and a higher cost should be used. As such, the choices for an electrode material are limited. Among possible electrode materials, platinum (Pt) has excellent anti-corrosive properties and catalytic activity. However, Pt is too expensive to be commercialized. In an alkaline electrolyte, metal electrodes are less corroded, and so the types of suitable metals are increased. Although non-platinum metals have the advantage of low cost, their catalytic activities and onset potentials of the oxygen reduction reaction are still worse than those of Pt.
As such, development of a non-platinum electrocatalyst with a higher onset potential of the oxygen reduction reaction and a higher catalytic activity is called for improving the power generation efficiency of the fuel cell.